


Angelica: The Avengers

by TheEmeraldWitch



Series: The Winter Angel [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angelica's a piece of shit, Battle of New York (Marvel), Crack Treated Seriously, Gen, Other, but what else is new, i think im funny but im not, idk - Freeform, kind of??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 16:55:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29371932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheEmeraldWitch/pseuds/TheEmeraldWitch
Summary: 2012 hits, and, as such, the Avengers begins. Angelica has to deal with it, because she always does.OR:The Avengers are idiots who should be doing team exercises at a boot camp, but they have to fight aliens instead.
Series: The Winter Angel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980103
Kudos: 1





	1. New Jersey

Angelica watched as the plane landed on the massive landing strip of the massive battleship known as the helicarrier. It had two runways, the one that they were on having direct access to the hangar and was aligned with the spine of the ship. 

Rogers and another man walked down the ramp of the jet to meet up with a woman with red hair that Angelica couldn’t really see, but assumed was Natasha. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, either, so she figured that now might be a good time to go over to the boat before it got too far away.

Angelica stood a running start and leapt into the air, flying as fast as she could towards the boat.

“-quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

“Trading cards?”

“They're vintage, he's very proud.” 

They walked up to a scientist that Angelica recognized as Bruce Banner, who was moving around, nervous and trying to keep people out of his way. _Why the hell is Bruce Banner on a SHIELD boat?_

“Dr. Banner.” Rogers shook his hand.

“Hi. They told me you'd be coming.”

“Word is you can find the cube.”

“Is that the only word on me?”

“Only word I care about.”

“Must be strange for you, all of this.”

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.”

“Gentlemen, you may want to step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breath.” The woman said.

Dr. Banner looked very confused. The helicarrier began shaking as it prepared to fly. 

“Is this is a submarine?” Steve asked.  
"Really? They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?”

They all moved closer to the edge of the helicarrier. Four huge lift fans on the sides mounted to lift them into the air. Steve watched in awe as Dr. Banner smiled. “No, no. This is much worse.”

When Steve Rogers first met Angelica, he thought that maybe she was Fury’s granddaughter or something, because she wasn’t wearing a mask. The second time he met her, she was wearing a mask and a SHIELD-made super suit (which was really just a turtleneck and leggings), and her hair was in French braids. She was still a short piece of shit, and she had introduced herself as the Winter Angel, or Agent A. He had no idea that she was the same scrawny motherfucker who had let him loose in the American Dream mall, cursing New Jersey the entire time.

The first time Angelica opened her mouth around Steve as the Winter Angel, his original opinion on the Winter Angel, specifically, took place.

“The red-heads shouldn’t be here.” Angelica heard someone mutter. “Girls have no place in an agency like SHIELD-”

Angelica had cut him off before he could finish his sentence. “Black Widow and I have as much of a right to be here as you do. Scratch that, _more_ of a right. Now, are you going to apologize, or do I need to make you?”

It was that that made Steve think that she kind of reminded him of himself, before the serum: scrawny, ready and willing to fight anything that moved, and would probably get her ass kicked if she actually tried.

He had underestimated her. The second time she opened her mouth around him as the Winter Angel, he was very much proven wrong.

“Woah, you’re Dr. Banner!” Angelica exclaimed. “That’s so cool!”

“…Wouldn’t you rather talk to Captain America?”

Angelica looked over at Steve, looking him up and down. “Hey, Steve.” She turned back to Dr. Banner, “My dude, you have seven PhD’s and have written papers on gamma radiation and nuclear physics _and_ you worked on the gamma bomb and the effects of the gamma radiation on _you_ are just really interesting because how in the hell is that even possible and-?” Angelica cut herself off, taking a deep breath. “Sorry. I’m really into science.”

She didn’t exactly remind Steve of himself anymore, that much was clear. More like Bucky, actually.

“You understood my papers?”

“Yeah. Is…there someone who wouldn’t? I-I mean it’s not simple, but I could understand it and I do have questions.”

“Like what?”

Dr. Banner seemed happy that there was someone he could talk about his work with, and, of course, surprised that she understood. She was a kid

“Well, first of all, how _did_ the gamma radiation affect you? Like, it made you the Hulk, kind of, but how? And would it have the same effect on a different person?”

“Huh. It’s all theoretical, of course, but…”

Angelica took notes.

They walked inside the helicarrier, Angelica following. The agents around them were barking orders and making notes into their earpieces. One man was playing Galaga. Angelica almost laughed.  
“All engines operating.” Maria Hill was saying. “Shield Emergency Protocol 193.6 in effect.” She turned to Fury. “We’re at level, sir.”

“Good. Let’s vanish.”

“Engage retro-reflecting panels.” Hill said, causing them to turn on as the ship became invisible.  
“Gentlemen.” Fury said. 

Dr. Banner and Angelica sat down at the round table behind his command station.

Steve handed Fury ten dollars. Fury silently took the cash.

“Bucky would’ve loved this.” Angelica whispered.

Steve, who had apparently heard her, looked at her. “Yeah.” He said uncertainly. “Yeah, he would’ve.” He turned to her. “What’s your name?”

Angelica stepped forward. “Winter. I’m the ghost who haunts this ship.”

“You’re not a ghost.”

“Fair enough. But, as far as you’re ever going to know, probably, my name is Winter. Nice to meet you, Private Rogers.”

“Uh, I’m a-”

“You had about six days of very basic training in the army, and you expect me to refer to you as _Captain_? Hate to break it to you, Capsicle, but that’s not happening.”

Fury walked forward and extended his hand to Dr. Banner, who reluctantly took it.

"Doctor, thank you for coming.”

"Thanks for asking nicely. So, uh... how long am I staying?”

“Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind.”

“Where are you with that?”

Fury turned to Coulson in a silent order for him to explain, while the red-head eyed an image of someone that had been pulled up on one of the computers. Angelica strode forward.

“I’m sorry.” She said.

Natasha only nodded, seemingly getting what she was trying to say. “He’ll be fine.”

“We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.” Coulson was saying.

“That's still not gonna find them in time.” Natasha told him.

"You have to narrow the field. How many spectrometers do you have access to?” Dr. Banner asked.

“How many are there?” Fury responded.

“A lot. Maybe I can run a hacking program of sorts, with that would help. Get any majorly encrypted data base into our power.” Angelica piped up. “I just need someone to lend me a laptop or something.”

“Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work?”

“Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.” Natasha nodded and walked off, leaving Dr. Banner to follow her down the hall. 

“You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys.”

“I mean, if it’s not too much trouble.” Coulson said.

Angelica rolled her eyes. “Fanboy.”

“No, no. It’s fine.”

“It’s a vintage set. It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but…”

“He has a waffle maker.”

“Shut up.”

“No.”

“We got a hit.” Sitwell said, and Angelica stood, looking over at the computer and keeping her distance from the SHIELD/Hydra agent. “Sixty-seven percent match. Weight, cross match, seventy-nine percent.”

“Location?” Coulson asked.

“Stuttgart, Germany. 28, Konigstrasse. He’s not exactly hiding.”

“Captain, Winter, you’re up.” Fury said.

Angelica stood in the bathroom of the Stuttgart museum. 

She changed her appearance to something she knew Loki wouldn’t recognize. She had light brown hair, streaked with purple, and chocolate brown eyes.

 _I’m fine. I can do this._ She thought. Angelica took a deep breath.

She had on nice black pants and a dark purple, button-up shirt. Her hair was in a half-up, half-down style, pinned in place with a golden hairpin in the shape of a spider. There was a pair of dark purple flats on her feet.

She walked out of the bathroom, wary as her eyes darted around.

An orchestra was playing. It was interrupted as the head doctor walked up to the mic.

It wasn’t even five minutes before Loki arrived. Chaos erupted. Angelica pressed a hand into her comm. “He’s here.” She muttered.

Loki bonked one guard on the head, knocking him out. Guests began running from the museum, Angelica doing the same as she played the part of the terrified guest. 

Loki walked out, gold armor and helmet materializing over his 21st-century clothing. The police arrived, and Angelica had no time to warn them before Loki blasted the cars, flipping them over. 

“Kneel before me.” He said.

The crowd ignored him.

A second Loki appeared, blocking the crowd from running. Many different Loki’s appeared, all grinning as they encircled the crowd. Angelica couldn’t help but feel trapped, and she took a few deep breaths to calm herself down.

“I said, KNEEL!!!” Loki roared. Angelica winced, but kneeled with the rest of the crowd. “Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel.”

An elder German man and Angelica rose from the crowd at the same time, both refusing to bow to him.

“I bow to no one.” Angelica said, chin lifted and eyes blazing with fire.

“Not to men like you.” The man said.

“ _Especially_ not to men like you.” Angelica agreed.

“There are no men like me.”

“There are always men like you.”

“Would you like me to name a few? Because I’ve got a few examples that I think this crowd would agree with.” Angelica said.

“Look to your elder and child, people. Let them be an example.”

The light on Loki’s scepter glowed blue as he aimed it at the older man. Angelica stepped in front of him immediately.

Just as the energy beam shot out, Captain America arrived. He dived in front of the blast just in time and blocked it with his shield, knocking Loki down on his ass.

“You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing.”

“Really, Cap, I had that under my full control.” Her features melted back to her natural red hair and brown eyes. “You didn’t have to step in.”

“You would have died. And what are you doing here?”

“Helping you.” She sassed. “And I would not have _died_ , I’m nearly indestructible at this point.”

Loki stood. “The soldier. A man out of time.”

“I'm not the one who's out of time.”

From above them, the Quinjet arrived. A machine gun was aimed at Loki.

“Loki, drop the weapon and stand down.” Natasha’s voice came out of a loudspeaker.

Natasha maneuvered around the answering blast just in time, giving Steve a chance to throw his shield at Loki.

They began duking it out.

Loki flung Steve to the ground. Steve threw his shield, but Loki swatted it away with no issues whatsoever. Loki knocked him over easily. 

“Kneel.” Loki said, pressing his scepter into Steve’s helmet.

“Not today!” He flipped Loki over and knocked down with his leg. Loki grabbed him and flipped him over.

Suddenly ‘Shoot To Thrill’ by ACDC began playing from the Quinjet’s speakers.

Angelica grinned and shook her head slightly. “Classic.”

Tony flew in using his Iron Man suit. He blasted Loki right back to the ground as he touched down. He then proceeded to pull out every piece of weaponry that the suit had.

“Make your move, Reindeer Games.” Loki raised his hands in surrender. His armor melted away. “Good move.”

Steve stood beside Tony, Angelica taking up his other side. “Mr. Stark.”

“Uh, no.” Angelica said. “Mr. Stark was his dad. He’s just Tony.”

“Captain.”


	2. I'll Explain Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The bit where she figures out that Loki’s being tortured is all stuff from multiple Tumblr posts, not my own. I’m not that smart.

Angelica let out a breath as she studied Loki from over the top of her SHIELD-sanctioned laptop. She focused on Loki for a moment, though he wouldn’t be able to tell, assessing his appearance

Angelica frowned as she noticed the bags under his eyes. Loki’s face was gaunt and weary. He seemed exhausted. Angelica was seated nearer to him than anyone else on the ship, so she was able to reach him with the healing/life portion of her magic. A simple look around told her that he had a headache and was incredibly warm, definitely much too warm for a frost giant, even one who had posed as an Asgardian and had thought he was one. He was slightly dizzy and nauseous. His skin was pale, though he was sweating slightly. His eyes were dark and sunken, and he was dehydrated. His lips were incredibly pale, and his blood circulation wasn’t working well. She also noted that his eyes were tinted blue slightly, as though he had had his mind warped by the scepter, but not fully controlled.

Her frown deepened and she shut the laptop, moving to the floor and placing her hand on Loki’s forehead.

“Winter, what are you doing?” Tony asked her.

She glared back at him. “Helping him.” Light formed around her fingers, cooling his forehead slightly. She continued her conversation with her father as she continued to cool him down.

“Why?” Natasha asked.

“There’s a lot going on here that you don’t understand.” Steve said.

That was what pissed Angelica off the most.

“My gods, I _knew_ you would say that, Steve. You give me less credit than I deserve.” She snapped. “I’m not stupid. I’ve spent the last five years earning majors and PhDs and minors. I’ve got more under my belt than the average Bruce Banner, combining all of them.” She focused on her attention on Loki for a moment to help him more. “Good. Take a deep breath. You’re safe. He- _they_ -are not here. They cannot hurt you. You are safe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” She turned back to the other people on the Quinjet, eyes blazing.

“I have fought in battles, however small. When I was three or so, I killed five people. I was stolen by-by scientists when I was two months old, experimented on and given more powers than I should have. I was tortured: beaten and whipped within an inch of my life nearly every day. I was in a coma for a week after I got my powers. 

“They gave my brother powers, too, or tried too. When it failed, they killed him. They killed my brother. He’s dead, because of some horrible, horrible people. I couldn’t save him. And I never thought I would tell you, because I didn’t want to burden you, and I didn’t want to have to go through thinking about that again, but I have too anyway. Because all of my nightmares have him in it. He’s always there, whether he plays a good or bad part.

“And thank the gods he is, because I will never, _ever_ , forget him, as long as I live. And I love him, still, and, yes, I do know that this has turned into a tirade about my dead brother, but I don’t care.” Angelica chose to leave out the fact that her brother might actually be alive, using the small amount of self-control that she had left. “So, if you’d let me get back to what I was doing, that’d be great, thanks.”

She turned back to Loki, taking a steadying breath and putting the shocked faces of Natasha, Tony, and Steve behind her and focusing on the god in front of her. 

Angelica placed a second hand on his forehead, letting the golden light coat her fingertips in an attempt to further lower heal him. 

“It’s okay.” She whispered. “Everything is okay. You are safe. They cannot hurt you here. I will not let them. Okay?” Loki nodded slightly. “Okay. I want you to do something for me. I want you to drink this.” She handed him a cup of water that she had conjured up a few moments before. “And I want you to answer a few questions for me. Can you do that?”

“Yes.” His voice sounded hoarse.

“Okay. Name five things you see.”

Loki looked around the Quinjet. “I see the seats. I see Rogers. He’s shocked. I see you. I see the machines. I see the front of the plane with the red-haired woman.”

“Her name’s Natasha.” Angelica told him softly. “Her alias is Black Widow.”

He nodded, taking in the information. 

“Now I want you to name four things that you can feel.”

“I feel the cup you gave me. I feel the fabric of my clothes. I feel the floor. I feel the handcuffs.”

“Very good. Now, three things that you hear.”

“The hum of the machines. Your voice. And the rain outside.”

“Two things you can smell, please.”

“I can smell the water you gave me…” He took a sip of the water. “And I can smell…something that surrounds this plane. It’s disgusting.”

“Good. I want you to name one thing that you taste for me. This is the last thing.”

“I taste the water you have given me.”

“Very good.” Angelica said. “Now, if you ever feel like you need to, I want you to take deep breaths. In through your nose, out through your mouth. Close your eyes. Find a happy place. Repeat and answers the questions I did with you in your head. Alright?”

He nodded silently.

“Thank you.” Angelica ran a hand through his long, greasy hair and began stroking it. It wasn’t two minutes before the sleeping medicine took affect and he slumped forward. Angelica fixed his position so that his head was in her lap as she continued to run a golden hand through his hair.

“How did you do that?” Tony asked.

Angelica shrugged, seeming to have cooled down after her rant. “After a while of dealing with this stuff…you pick up a few tricks. Plus, I put a sleep drug into his water I shouldn’t have, as he may lose trust in me, but I knew it was the only thing that would ever get him to sleep right now. I actually got that trick from a fanfiction.”

“Wow.”

“да.”

Angelica grabbed a few strands of Loki’s hair. She began making his hair into a braid, getting his long hair off of the back of his neck slightly. She let out a breath as she worked, the stares of the other people on the plane burning into her back now and then.

“Loki…” Angelica said softly, a few hours into the flight. “Wake up…”

He rose groggily. “What…?”

“Don’t worry. We’re still on the Quinjet. Unfortunately, I had to wake you up for plot. I’m sorry in advance for what I have to let happen.”

Thunder came out of nowhere, and Angelica groaned. “Bloody - the man really has no self-control without Jane, does he? I’m just glad it’s not Zeus. Now _that_ would be a catastrophe.”

Steve and Tony were whispering in the corner, something Angelica did not appreciate. She glared at them.

Thunder nearly hit the jet, making it shake violently.

“Where's this coming from?” Natasha asked.

Loki and Angelica looked at each other apprehensively, Angelica curling in on herself slightly, then turned to the windows.

“What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?” Steve asked.

“I'm not overly fond of what follows.” Loki answered.

“I don’t think either of us are. He’s my friend, too, but his temper is a pain in the ass.” Angelica agreed. “And…I don’t _love_ thunder.”

Thunder was a lot of things to Angelica. 

Thunder was a storm, yes. But storms…the bright, flashing lights and the booms reminded her of Hydra, if only a little. When she had escaped, and when she was still there, under their control. It reminded her of missions for both sides. It reminded her of when the base was attacked, and she had to defend it. It reminded her of Hydra killing her brother.

She fought the images that flashed behind her eyes, the tears that rose. Silver rimmed her cloudy brown eyes.

A jet of blinding light hit the Quinjet, and Angelica fought to keep steady. Tony slid his Iron Man helmet on. Thor Odinson, Loki’s brother, opened the ramp, grabbed Loki by the throat, and flew out. Steve and Tony stared, dumbstruck.

“Now there's that guy.” Tony said.

“He really has no regard for human decency, does he?” Angelica said, mainly to herself. “Though he’s not exactly human, so…”

“Another Asgardian?” Natasha asked.

“Think the guy's a friendly?”

“Yes.” Angelica answered, checking all of her weapons.

“Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost.” Tony turned and got ready to jump off the jet.

“If he kills Loki, I’ll kill him.” Angelica growled. “Friend or not, future king of Asgard or not, literal treason or not.”

“Stark, we need a plan of attack!”

“I have a plan. Attack.”

He jumped out of the plane. Steve grabbed a parachute so that he could follow.

“I'd sit this one out, Cap.” Natasha said.

“I don't see how I can.”

“These guys come from legends, they're basically gods.”

“There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that.”

“I hate to burst your bubble, but…Ugh, you know what, I’ll explain later.” Angelica said. 

Steve jumped out of the jet.

“Well, I have to go defuse that situation and help not get people killed. Sorry, Natasha. See you in a bit.” 

Angelica flew down after Steve.

Tony and Thor were fighting. 

Fun.

Angelica sighed heavily. “Why in all the realms do I have to deal with this bullshit? That’s enough!” 

They jumped off the side of the mountain.

“Please don’t kill yourselves! It’s my job to be insane, vaguely bipolar, and suicidal!”

“Do we need to have a talk?” Thor and Tony both asked her, still fighting when she landed beside them.

“Hey! That's enough!” Steve interrupted from a tree.

“No, we do not.” Angelica said, ignoring Steve and referring to Tony and Thor’s early questions. “Now stop fighting, or I will kick _both_ of your asses. And you know I could do it.”

They stopped fighting immediately.

Please bear in mind, Angelica was eleven-year-old, and was four feet tall. Her hair reached past her waist. 

And they were terrified of her. 

She found it both smart and immensely funny.

Steve came down and looked at Angelica. “How did you do that?”

She shrugged. “No idea. I’m a pretty scary person.”

“But you’re tiny.”

In moments that passed too swiftly for Steve to react, she had the tip of a knife pressed into his stomach. “Call me tiny again, and I will gut you.” She said serenely. Angelica’s face cracked into a smile and she stepped away. “Only joking. I am definitely tiny. Call me what you want, I don’t give a shit.”

“Okay…Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here.” Steve said to Thor, looking deeply rattled by the prior experience. 

“I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!” 

“Then prove it! Put the hammer down.” 

“You should not have said that.” Angelica said.

“Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!”

Thor then proceeded to backhand Tony like a pimp with his hammer. The demigod, having lost all sense of tolerance with everyone other than Angelica, rose his hammer.

She rolled her eyes. “Christ, Thor, calm down! We do not murder people using a weapon that is much better suited for torture in this household!”

“You want me to put the hammer down?” Thor shouted to Steve.

Angelica groaned. “Well, I tried. Prepare yourselves.”

“What’s he gonna-”

“Something that could very well destroy this entire mountain if he wanted it to.”

Thor leapt high into the air, raising his hammer. Steve crouched behind his shield, while Angelica stayed perfectly still, not needing to shelter herself from what wouldn’t harm her. 

Thor brought his hammer down onto Steve’s shield, causing a large implosion of light. The lightning from Thor’s hammer had reacted to the metal of the vibranium, creating a shockwave that destroyed everything within a mile.

Tony stood, looking around in shock. Steve was lying next to him, staring at Thor. Angelica had been standing the whole time, completely still (for once). The whole thing had simply felt like a large blast of wind and energy to Angelica. It had made her hair look windswept and messy, but she didn’t mind, adjusting her long braids as she smirked at her fellow god. “What _were_ you trying to accomplish there?”

He glared at her. 

“Are we done here?” Steve asked.

They all stared at each other, silent.

“Depends.” Angelica answered. “What does the plot line think?” 


	3. Flying Monkeys

Dozens of SHIELD police were escorting Loki to his prison. Angelica was standing beside Dr. Banner in the lab, helping him work on the Chitauri scepter. They both looked up. Loki eyed them both up and down, smiling. Angelica rolled her eyes, gave him a ‘Seriously?’ look, and went back to figuring out the Chitauri scepter. Dr. Banner frowned.

When Loki got into the glass hydraulic cell, they watched his interrogation through a TV screen in the briefing room.

“In case it's unclear: You try to escape, you so much as scratch that glass.” Fury pressed a button, and a hatch opened up underneath Loki’s cell. It was so far that it would make a normal man shit himself. “Thirty thousand feet, straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?” He closed the hatch and pointed at Loki. “Ant.” He pointed at button that would drop Loki down in the steel trap he was caged in. “Boot.”

Angelica ran a hand through her hair. 

Loki smirked. “It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.”

“Built for two somethings a lot stronger than you.”

“Oh, I've heard.” Loki into the camera, and Angelica silently passed Dr. Banner a mug of hot chocolate. 

He looked at her as if to ask, “Where’d you get this?” but Angelica just silently said, “I’ll explain later,” and turned her attention back to the TV screen.

“The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man.” Loki was saying. “How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?” 

“Sometimes I forget how much of an asshole he is.” Angelica muttered.

Natasha looked over at her and raised an eyebrow. “How?”

Angelica shrugged.

“How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control.” Fury said. “You talk about peace and you kill `cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.”

“Ooh. It burns you to come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share, and then to be reminded what real power is.”

Fury smiled. “Well, you let me know if Real Power wants a magazine or something.”

“Oof.” Angelica muttered.

Fury walked off, and Loki back into the camera, smirking.

They all stared until the monitor went black. Thor, who had just listened, was being torn apart. 

“He really grows on you, doesn't he?” Dr. Banner said, breaking the stunned silence.

“Loki’s gonna drag this out.” Rogers said. “So, Thor, what’s his play?”

Thor seemed to snap back to reality. “He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.”

“An army? From outer space?” Steve asked.

“Yes. Do try to keep up, old man.” Angelica teased.

“You know what, Agent-”

“So, he’s building another portal.” Bruce said suddenly. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?” Thor said. Angelica perked up, taking her feet off of the table.

“He’s an astrophysicist.”

“He’s a friend.” Angelica and Thor answered at the same time.

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours.” Natasha told Bruce.

” I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here.” Steve said.

“I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him.”

“Aw, Brucie, you’re close! Keep going, eventually you’ll realize.” Angelica smirked. She went ignored, however, in favor of Thor’s answer.

“Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days.” Natasha said.

“He’s adopted.”

“Yeah. Funny, that means your parents _chose_ him.” Angelica said. “But I still like Loki more than you.”

“Why? I am older and clearly-”

“Loki said he would teach me magic. You just kind of…destroyed a robot and fucked off back to Asgard.”

“I think it's about the mechanics.” Bruce said. It was enough to distract Thor and Angelica, and probably stopped a fight that would’ve destroyed the helicarrier. “Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?”

“It's a stabilizing agent.” Tony said, walking into the room with Coulson. “I'll fly you there. Keep the love alive.” He said to the agent. “Means the portal won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD.”

Angelica, despite the fact that he didn’t know they were related, was actually incredibly excited to meet her father. She just didn’t say anything until he had the Iron Man suit off, because she was a dramatic bitch like that.

“Woah!” She exclaimed. “You’re Tony Stark!”

“Yeah, I’m Iron Man.”

“No, no.” Angelica said. “You’re _Tony Stark_. Stark Tower runs entirely on clean energy now – I do watch the news, you know -” Angelica said, at the look on his face. “- and you built the original Iron Man suit out of scraps, solved the freezing problem quite quickly, and, truth be told, seem to be able to survive just about anything, even with the scrapes and bruises. You’ve written brilliant papers on engineering and mechanics, and I really loved the one on the Iron Man suit, that was _really cool_ , how did you even make that, anyway? And how is JARVIS inside of the suit? Moreover, how is he inside of your _house_? Are there wires in the walls or something? Мама всегда говорила, что ты умный, но на самом деле-” (Mom always said that you were smart, but really-)

Natasha snorted, and Angelica looked over at her, wide-eyed. “Oh, gods, I totally forgot that you speak Russian. That was a joke. That was a joke. Kind of. Я не знаю как моя мама. Ну, я знаю, но я не говорю тебе, потому что это было бы неловко.” (I don’t know who my mom is. Well, I do, but I’m not telling you, that would be awkward.)

Angelica looked up at Tony eagerly. The genius just looked shocked, and for once, he was speechless.

“Yeah, she’s smart.” Dr. Banner said, smiling at Angelica.

“Really? Thanks, Dr. Banner!”

“Call me Bruce.”

“Okay!” Angelica grinned.

“No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing.” Tony said to Thor, before turning back to Bruce. Angelica suddenly understood where she got her ability to switch between topics so quickly. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants.” Tony switched back to talking to the crew. “Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing Galaga! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did.” Angelica glanced over at the agent, who quickly changed his screen, while Tony covered one eye and looked around the room. “How does Fury do this?”

“He turns.” Hill said.

Tony looked around the monitors, placing a button-sized hacking implant under Fury’s desk. Angelica was the only who noticed.

“Well, that sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he still needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kick start the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked.

“Last night. The packet, Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“I did.” Angelica said.

“And you understood them?”

“Was there someone who didn’t?”

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked, bringing to conversation back around.

“Something hot, at the very least.” Angelica said. “He’d have to heat the Tesseract to at least a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier, but then there’s a million other things in his way.”

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect.”

“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet.” Bruce said.

“Finally, people who speak English.” Tony said.

“Is that what that happened?” Steve asked. Angelica stood, shaking hands with Bruce Banner and Tony Stark.

 _This is so cool._ She thought.

“It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

Bruce looked down. “Thanks.”

“I have just realized how young you are, should I be worried, or impressed?” Tony asked.

“…Depends, are you going to parent and underestimate me like half the other adults on this ship, or are you going to help me save the world with the rest of the Breakfast Club?”

“I choose the Breakfast Club.”

“Good, the former wouldn’t have gone well for you, I am not easily parent-able.”

Fury walked in, putting a pause on their conversation. “Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube, and Winter, you’re only here because you’re useful.”

“And because I have blackmail on you.”

“I was hoping that you’d join Dr. Banner.” Fury spoke over her.

“Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.” Steve said.

“I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do!” Steve said eagerly. “I understand that reference.”

Tony and Angelica rolled their eyes, facial expressions strikingly similar. “’Я понял эту ссылку.’” (I understood that reference.) Angelica mocked. “Иисус, никого не волнует.” (Jesus, no one cares.)

Natasha smirked. “Суровый.” (Harsh.)

“Какая? Это правда.” (What? It’s the truth.)

“Shall we play, doctor? And agent.” Tony tacked on.

“Let’s play some.”

Angelica rubbed her hands together. “This is gonna be fun.”


	4. Alex

Angelica messed around on the holographic images, strategizing with every possible problem and solution. Images flew past her, most of them research focusing on the myths Loki was in, as well news articles on Stuttgart. There were even a few dedicated to finding Loki.

“The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports on the Tesseract. But it’s gonna take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct a reroute to the Homer cluster, we can clock this around six hundred teraflops.”

“I have an AI that can do it, plus he’s already got access to most of SHIELD’s files. Meaning, Stark, there was no need to hack SHIELD. Alex?”

“Yes, Miss Angelica?”

Angelica reached a hand behind her back, moving Bruce and Tony’s work over to her. “Clock this, and find everything you can on Selvig. You know what, speed up Stark’s hacking program while you’re at it.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“What have I said about calling me ‘ma’am’?”

“You can’t stop me.”

“That’s my boy. But seriously, call me ma’am again and I’ll donate you to a community college.”

“All I packed was a toothbrush.” Bruce said.

Tony smiled. “You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it, it’s candy land.”

“Thanks, but last time I was in New York I kind of broke…Harlem.”

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension. No surprises.”

“Or, I can build something.” Angelica said. “Meditation room, maybe.”

While Angelica was talking, Tony had pocked Bruce with a mini electrical prod.

“Ow!”

“Are you alright? And Stark, don’t do that.”

“Hey!” Steve said.

“Oh, boy.” Angelica muttered.

“Nothing?”

“Are you nuts?”

“You really have got a lid on it, haven’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?”

Angelica snorted.

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve asked.

“Funny things are.”

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny. No offense, Doctor.”

“No, it’s alright. I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

“Have a little faith, Rogers, it’ll be fine.”

“You’re tiptoeing, big man. You need to strut.” Tony said.

“Now, shoulders back and stand up tall, and do not walk, but try to float!” Angelica hummed.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.”

“You think I’m not? Why did Fury call us, and why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation unless I have all the variables.”

“Obviously, you’ve never done algebra.” Angelica said.

“You think Fury’s hiding something?”

“He’s a spy. Captain, he’s _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets.” Tony pointed at Bruce. “It’s bugging him, too, isn’t it? Agent?”

“The hell are you talking about, my clearance is higher than Romanoff’s, I don’t need to wonder, I can just ask.”

“Uh…I just want to finish my work here, and…”

“Doctor?”

Bruce seemed to realize something. “’A warm light for all mankind.’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.”

“I heard it.”

Bruce pointed at Tony. “Well, I think that was meant for you. Even if Barton didn’t post that all over the news.”

“Stark Tower? That big ugly…” Angelica and Tony gave him twin looks. “building in New York?”

“It’s powered by Stark Reactors, self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?”

“That’s just the prototype. I’m kind of the only name in clean energy right now.”

“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring him in on the Tesseract? I mean, what are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

“They had me, but even I don’t have access to that project, it’s so classified even the people working on it don’t know the name.”

“I should probably look into that once my decryption programmer finished breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve said, “did you say…?”

“Maybe I should’ve done more than just follow him around a mall for a few hours…” Angelica muttered. “Meh.”

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours we’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?”

“Ooh.” Angelica grabbed a few, popping them into her mouth. “Thanks.”

“Yet you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around?”

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not possible.”

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders, we should follow them.”

“Would you like me to list off all the times you’ve disobeyed orders?” Angelica asked.

“Following isn’t really my style.”

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

“Of the people in this room, which one is; A. wearing a spangly outfit, and B. not of use?”

“Steve, tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?” Bruce asked.

Steve considered it, but he shook it off. “Just find the cube.”

He left.

“Jesus.” Angelica muttered.

“That’s the guy my dad never shut up about? Wondering if they shouldn’t have kept him on ice.”

“He’s not worth thinking about. Believe me, all I did to re-introduce him to modern society was let him run around a mall for a few hours.”

“Well, the guy’s not wrong about Loki. He does have the jump on us.”

“What he’s got is an ACME dynamite kit. It’s gonna blow in his face, and I’m gonna be there when it does.”

“And I’ll read all about it.” Bruce said.

“Uh-huh. Or you’ll be suiting up like the rest of us.”

“Ah, see. I don’t get a suit of armor. I’m exposed, like a nerve. It’s a nightmare.”

“Huh. I thought that Hulk’s skin was really like, like an exoskeleton or something.”

“You know, I’ve got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heard.” Tony tapped on the Arc-Reactor. “This stops it. This little circle of light. It’s part of me now, not just armor. It’s a…terrible privilege.”

“But you can control it.”

“And you can’t?” Angelica asked.

“I learned how.”

“It’s different.”

Bruce tried to read the data on the computer screen, but Tony slid it away. “Hey, I’ve read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you.”

“So you’re saying that the Hulk…the other guy…saved my life?”

“It’s the most logical answer, and it’s certainly possible.” Angelica said.

“That’s nice. It’s a nice sentiment. Save it for what?”

There was a beat of silence. “I guess we’ll find out.” Tony said.

“You might not like that.” Bruce said, as they all went back to their respective computers.

“You just might.”


	5. A Childhood? Don't Know Her ~Angelica, 2k12

“Loki means to unleash the Hulk.” Angelica heard. “Keep Banner in the lab, I’m on my way. Send Thor as well.”

Angelica glanced over at Bruce, who was working on something. She bit her lip, deep in concentration.

Angelica would keep an eye on him.

Fury walked in that morning, surprised to see Angelica, Tony, and Bruce working on the scepter.

“What are you doing, Mir. Stark?”

“Uh…kind of been wondering the same thing about you.”

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.”

“We are.” Angelica said.

“The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now.” Bruce told Fury. “When we have a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.”

“And you’ll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.”

“Well, maybe a little muss. Asgard does kinda need it, after all.” Angelica said.

“What is Phase Two?” Tony asked.

Suddenly, Steve dropped a Hydra Assault Rifle on the table, causing Angelica to bite her lip to stop a gasp. She _knew_ that weapon. She had used one of those. Multiple times.

“Phase Two is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.”

“It was not-!” Angelica began, but she was interrupted by Fury.

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re…”

“I’m sorry, Nick,” Tony moved the computer screen towards Fury, which was showing weapons plans. “What were you lying?”

“And you didn’t even tell me,” Angelica pressed a hand to her chest in mock offense. “I’m offended.”

“I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.” Steve said.

At that moment, Thor and Natasha walked into the lab. Natasha kept her eyes on Bruce, who looked pissed. “Did you know about this?” He asked.

“You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?”

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.”

“Loki’s manipulating you.”

“And you’ve been doing what, exactly?”

“You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you,” Natasha said, seemingly realizing something.

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.”

“Because of him.” Fury said, pointing at Thor.

“Me?” The god asked, stunned.

“Not me, Director? Sad.” Angelica half-teased.

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.” Thor said.

“But there’s others.” Angelica said.

“And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled.” Fury finished.

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve asked.

“You can’t control the Tesseract. It’s a living thing, it thinks and it controls itself and others.”

“The angel is right.” Thor said. “You can’t control the Tesseract, but your work with it is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.”

“A higher form?”

“We won’t just be fighting ourselves anymore.” Angelica told him.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.”

“Nuclear deterrent. ‘Cause that always calms everything right down.”

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?”

“By being uneducated.” Angelica said. “He had no idea.”

“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep-”

“Wait, wait! Hold on! How is this now about me?”

“I’m sorry, isn’t everything?”

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.”

“I had less hope.” Angelica muttered.

“Excuse me, did _we_ come to _your_ planet and blow stuff up?”

“Did you always give your champions such mistrust?”

“Are you all really that naïve? SHIELD monitors potential threats.”

“Captain America is on the threat potential watch list?” Bruce exclaimed.

“We all are, we’re all threats.” Angelica said.

“You’re on that list?” Tony asked Steve. “Are you above or below angry bees?”

“Below.” Angelica said.

“I swear to God, Stark, one more crack...”

“Threatening! I feel threatened!”

Angelica suddenly felt like she was only one with a manageable ego.

“You speak of control, yet you court chaos.” Thor said.

“Have you met me? I _am_ chaos.” Angelica said.

“It’s his MO, isn’t it? I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re…we’re a time-bomb.” Bruce gravitated towards the scepter.

“You need to step away.” Fury said.

“Why shouldn’t the guy let off a little steam?” Tony asked, putting his arm around Steve.

“You know damn well why! Back off!” Steve exclaimed, pushing Tony off.

“Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.” Tony said.

 _That’s gay._ Angelica thought.

“Big man in a suit of armor, take that off, what are you?”

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.”

“The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

“I think I would just cut the wire.”

Steve smiled bitterly. “Always a way out…You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

“A hero? Like you? You’re a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” Angelica said quietly.

Tony rounded on her as Angelica stepped out of the shadows. It was the first time Angelica had seen anyone angry at her in a long time, and she held back a flinch.

“Excuse me?” He said.

“I’m not talking to you.” She said. “I’m talking to Rogers.”

“What do you have to say to me?”

“You have zero idea what you’re talking about. You’ve known Stark for, what, five minutes? All you’ve done is tell him to stick to orders and yell at him. And guess what? He _would_ make the sacrifice play, he is a hero, and he is so much more than what you see him as. So, until you spend some time getting to know him, you need to shut the hell up.”

“Oh, right, and you know Stark _so well_.”

“I’ve seen enough of what he’s done to understand.”

“I don’t need you to-”

“Stand back, истребитель. Let me deal with this.”

“No! I am an adult; I don’t need some kid-”

“I am much more than a child, Stark. I could burn you all right where you stood.”

“And? You shouldn’t be a SHIELD agent, much less be helping save the world!”

“I am more than capable of helping any of you, how dare you insinuate-!”

“You should be living your life, having a childhood-!”

“I’ve never had a childhood.”

Tony looked shocked.

Angelica took a breath. “Now, we’re all going to calm down-”

“He called me a lab rat!” Steve said.

“What a fucking child-”

“How immature do you have to still be hung up on that?” Tony exclaimed. “We’ve moved past this, Rogers. You’re a lab rat, Chaos Kid is a child, and we don’t like each other.”

“You know what, why don’t you put on the suit, let’s go a few rounds.”

“You people are so petty…And tiny.” Thor said.

“Yeah, this is a team…” Bruce said sarcastically.

“Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…”

Angelica frowned. _Romanoff?_

“Where? You rented my room.”

“The cell was just in case…”

”In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know! I tried!” There was a beat of silence. Angelica debated hugging him, taking a step forward, but elected against it. “I got low. I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out! So, I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk!” Bruce looked over at Natasha. She looked unnerved. “You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?”

Bruce grabbed the scepter.

Natasha and Fury had their hands on their guns, and Angelica was on guard.

“Doctor Banner…put down the scepter.” Steve said slowly.

Bruce didn’t seem to know that he was holding it.

Suddenly, the computer beeped.

“Got it.” Tony said.

Bruce put down the scepter. “Sorry, kids. You don’t get to see my little party trick after all.”

“Located the Tesseract?” Thor asked.

“I can get there faster.” Tony told him.

“Look, all of us…”

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it.” Thor interrupted.

Tony turned to leave, off to do Angelica-didn’t-know-what.

“You’re not going alone!” Steve said.

“You gonna stop me?”

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.”

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit.”

“Calm down, we’re all going to take a deep breath-”

Angelica was interrupted by Bruce, who had noticed something on the monitor. “Oh, my God!”


	6. Keep Calm and Try Not To Die

It was pandemonium.

Everyone had been thrown in a different direction. Angelica had been tossed across the room like a ragdoll, and a hole had been blown in the floor, down to the lower equipment room.

“Put on the suit!” Steve shouted at Tony.

“Yep!”

Steve helped Tony out of the room, holding him by the waist.

_The fuck-_

Angelica was knocked out of her thoughts as she inhaled smoke, and she dashed out of the room and towards Loki’s containment room.

The rest of the helicarrier was just as bad. Angelica put a hand to her comm. “You know, Fury, for an agency of people trained to stay calm and deal with things like these, everyone is surprisingly panicked.”

“Shut the hell up and do your job!”

“I’m trying!”

Angelica never made it to Loki’s containment chamber. She didn’t until it was too late, anyway.

She dashed across the ship, putting out fires and healing the people that she could. “Alex, Aaron, you know what to do.” She said. “Work together, for once in your lives.”

“Initiating Protocols ‘This Is Fine’ and ‘Kim, there’s people that are dying.’” Came Alex and Aaron’s Scottish and American accents, respectively.

“Good job.”

Alex directed Angelica to those that had gotten hurt in the blast, Aaron working on figuring out where the enemy soldiers were and where they might strike next, forwarding the information to the other SHIELD agents on board.

“Find me Barton, let Black Widow know where he is,” Angelica said. “Alex, where’s Coulson?”

“He is heading towards the armory-”

The ship rocked again, and Angelica swore loudly.

“The Hulk has been unleashed,” Came Aaron’s voice in her ear.

“Yeah, no shit! I don’t pay you to tell me stuff I already know!”

“You don’t pay either of us.”

“Don’t test me, I’ll donate you to a community college.” Angelica sighed. “Where is he?”

“In the lower equipment room. Black Widow is currently trying to remedy the situation.”

“Engine three is totally dead,” Alex said. “Director Fury and other SHIELD agents are attempting to get the helicarrier over water.”

“Good. One more engine goes out and we drop. I want SHIELD medical placed in the briefing room by Fury’s monitors, and another at the main points in the ship if they can get there. We need all hands on deck.”

“On it.”

Angelica bypassed SHIELD agents and doctors, healing who she could as she made her way to Loki’s containment chamber. She didn’t make it fast enough, though.

Angelica was barely able to see Phil. All she could see was Loki standing behind him, stabbing him in the back with his scepter.

“NO!” She shouted, running towards Phil. A blast of golden light shot from her hands, but it was too late. He was barely hanging on, dropping to his knees.

Angelica didn’t register much after that. She just remembered Coulson, everything else a blurry haze as she desperately tried to save him. But her healing was nearly spent, and he was dying.

There was nothing that she could do.

Angelica was slumped against the table in the briefing room. Tony and Steve were the only other people in there that were on the team. The others were in shock, devastated. They didn’t know what to do. Neither did Angelica, and she hated it.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them.”

Fury threw blood-splattered Captain America trading cards across the table to Steve.

“We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.” Fury paused. “Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called Th Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes.” Tony stood and walked off. “Well, it’s an old-fashioned notion.”

Angelica didn’t really know what to do. She wanted to check on Clint, but she wanted to leave him and Natasha to their own devices for a while.

Speaking of Natasha…

Clint was in the bathroom when Angelica got to his rest cell. She scanned her card and entered the room, causing Natasha to look up.

“Is he okay?” Angelica asked, sitting down next to Natasha.

“He will be.”

Angelica paused, unsure of how to bring up the conversation. “I’m sorry,” she said finally, “what did Fury say your last name is?”

“Romanoff.”

Angelica stared at her. “Романовы не сдаются.” She said under her breath.

“Where did you hear that?”

“You.”

“…What’s your real name?”

“Nice subject change,” Angelica said sarcastically. “I’m Angelica.”

“No last name?”

“That would insinuate that I have a family, or that I belong to something or someone other than myself.”

Natasha stared at her. All she saw was the little girl that Angelica had been.

_“No last name?”_

_“That would insinuate that I belong to something other than Hydra.”_

“You could have a family. And there’s no reason for you to fight. This isn’t your war.”

“It isn’t yours either. Ms. Romanoff, I am very much alone in this world. I accepted that a long time ago. I have no one, and I never will have anyone. The world will always shun me and will always hate me. I understand that. But I don’t care. Because it’s the only world I have. So, if Earth is burning, then I’m burning with it.”

“But you don’t have to fight. You’re a kid. And you won’t always be alone…. I can be your family.” Natasha didn’t move, but Angelica could see the words unspoken. Natasha knew that Angelica was her daughter. Offering to be Angelica’s family for real was Natasha’s idea of a peace offering.

Angelica smiled bitterly. “I appreciate that, but I’m much more than a kid. We are all more than kids. Luke Castellan and Sam Johnson taught me that.”

Angelica made her way towards the labs. Working with stuff always calmed her down. She had seen Steve making his way towards Clint’s room, but she had ignored him.

“Good, you’re here.” Tony was working on something, fixing his suit.

“What’s wrong?”

“Loki’s going after Stark Tower. Get your gear and whatever else you need if you want to help. I’m leaving once I’m done. You’ve got maybe thirty minutes at most.”

“I can be done in ten.”

Angelica dashed to the other side of the helicarrier, where she kept the gear that she never really brought out unless she needed it. She fixed her braids, making sure they were tight enough that they wouldn’t come loose and started arming herself. She ate an apple and a granola bar to make sure that she would have at least some energy to use her powers with and joined Tony, who was about to fly off the helicarrier.

“You ready?” He asked.

“Yep. Let’s go fight some aliens.”

“Before we go-”

“None of that warning bullshit. Just let me do my thing.” Angelica smirked and backflipped off the helicarrier, opening her wings just as she was about to hit the water below. She dipped one wing in, causing a spray of water to come up.

“No one told me you were this dramatic.” Angelica could practically hear Tony rolling his eyes.

“What a shame.” She said sarcastically.

Tony landed on the roof of Stark Tower, while Angelica touched down on the ground, looking for the others and surveying what had happened so far. She looked up to see Tony flying in his suit towards a portal that had opened up in the sky. “Oh. That’s…not good.” She said slowly.

Angelica turned her focus back to the officers and soldiers that had taken positions in the streets. Tony was leading a trail of Chitauri towards his tower, and the Quinjet boomed into the city.

“Stark, we’re heading northeast.” Angelica heard in her ear.

“What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing up Park, I’m gonna lay ‘em out for you.”

Angelica grinned, taking to the air and looking for Park Street. Angelica barely paid attention to the fight Loki and Thor were having, focusing on firing blasts of fire and the occasional death ray at the Chitauri. She finally found Steve, Natasha, and Clint in the middle of a four-way street.

The city seemed to stop, a shadow unlike anything even Angelica had ever seen being cast over them. A Chitauri Leviathan, carrying hundreds of soldiers, entered the city. “Okay,” Angelica whispered. “Okay. This is new.”

“Stark, are you seeing this?” Steve said as the Chitauri began sliding down buildings, firing energy rifles at innocent people. Angelica darted in front of them, moving the civilians out of the way.

“I’m seeing, still working on believing. Where’s Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?”

“Just keep me posted.”

Angelica nodded even though he couldn’t see her, noting Loki stabbing Thor on the roof of Stark Industries. She rolled her eyes. “Jesus, he needs to calm down.”

Angelica ran with Steve, Clint, and Natasha, where Loki was taking his band down the street, smashing cars and hurling people. Angelica helped people out of the way as they went, trying to get them out of the city.

“Those people need assistance down there,” Steve said, looking at the bridge.

Chitauri soldiers began to fire at them, Natasha and Angelica firing back.

“We got this. It’s good.” Natasha said to Steve. “Go!”

“You think you can hold them off?” Steve asked Clint.

“Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure.”


	7. “I am four feet tall. My hair weighs more than my body. And I have wings. I think I’ll be fine.”

Looking back, Angelica would hardly remember the actual fighting. She would remember the good things, like the team standing in a circle, getting ready to fight once more. She hovered in between Tony and Natasha.

“Right. Better clench up, Legolas.” Tony said, taking off with Clint.

“Thor, you’ve gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You’ve got the lightning. Light the bastards up.” Steve turned to Natasha and Angelica. “The three of us, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk? Smash.”

The Hulk grinned and leaped into a wall.

The three of them, surprisingly, didn’t get overwhelmed.

“You wanna get up there, you’re gonna need a ride,” Steve said.

“I got a ride. I could use a lift, though.” Natasha backed up so that she could get a running start, while Steve lifted his shield, angling it.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah. It’ll be fun.” Natasha ran, jumping off of a car and onto Steve’s shield. Angelica gave her a boost, golden light shooting out of her hands and pushing her even further upward. She and Steve began to get overwhelmed with the sheer amount of Chitauri soldiers.

Angelica turned to Steve, looking him dead in the eyes. “Hey, Steven, if you still believe in the lord above…get on your hands and knees and pray for us.”

“I really don’t think that this is the time.” He said, knocking another Chitauri in the head.

“It isn’t. I was joking.”

Angelica mostly blacked out for the rest of the fight.

“Are…are you sure you want me to throw you off the roof?” Steve asked.

“Steve,” Angelica said, looking him dead in the eyes. “I am four feet tall. My hair weighs more than my body. And I have wings. I think I’ll be fine.”

Steve launched her off the roof, and Angelica rode on the back of a Chitauri, taking hold of its ship and continuing with the fight.

Angelica was horrified, watching as Tony flew a nuclear bomb into the portal in the sky. “Tony? Tony, don’t. We can fix it some other way.”

“Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip?” Steve said.

He didn’t answer.

Tony flew higher and tighter, gaining speed.

Angelica watched him fly into the portal.

Suddenly, the Chitauri soldiers keeled over and began to shake, then stop. They fell, but Angelia was hardly paying attention.

Thor nodded at Steve, seeing the supernova coming towards them.

“Close it.” Steve said.

“No!” Angelica shouted. “He’s coming back, don’t close it, please! Natasha!”

The portal closed, and Angelica collapsed to the ground, burying her head between her knees.

“Son of a gun!” Steve said, and Angelica shot up.

Tony was plummeting towards the earth.

“He’s not slowing down,” Thor said. Just as the god began to fly, the Hulk snagged Tony out of the air, crashing and sliding down a building. The Hulk laid Tony on the ground.

He didn’t wake up.

Angelica’s eyes began to glow gold as she tried to heal him, but then…

The Hulk roared, and the noise startled him awake.

“What the hell?” Tony exclaimed. “What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

There was a pause.

“We won,” Steve said.

“Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow. Let’s just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I wanna try it.”

“We’re not finished yet,” Thor said.

“And then shawarma after.”

Angelica laughed.

The Avengers stood around Loki in a semi-circle, pissed. Angelica was hovering a few inches above the ground.

“If it’s all the same to you, I’ll have that drink now.”

Angelica almost fell out of the sky because of how hard she was laughing.

They took Thor and Loki to a block area, with the dark-haired god handcuffed and muzzled. Thor shook hands with them, giving Selvig and Angelica a hug each. Tony opened the Tesseract’s case, and Angelica watched as Banner placed it inside of the glass tube that Thor was holding. Thor gave Loki the other end and they leaped into an energy beam. Angelica elected to fly back to the Tower, racing Bruce and Tony there.

Angelica finished eating her falafel. The Avengers were eating in complete silence, all exhausted. Angelica let out a long groan, banging her head down onto the table so that all anyone could see was her mass of red hair.

“Ditto,” Clint said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, last chapter of this book! I'm trying to speedrun the actual movies, so that I can catch up to the MCU. There are a bunch of scenes coming for the in-between the movies, though :)


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